Newcastle disease virus-based H5 influenza vaccine protects chickens from lethal challenge with a highly pathogenic H5N2 avian influenza virus

• Published in: npj vaccines 2017-12, Vol.2 (1), p.33-33, Article 33
• Main Authors: Ma, Jingjiao, Lee, Jinhwa, Liu, Haixia, Mena, Ignacio, Davis, A. Sally, Sunwoo, Sun Young, Lang, Yuekun, Duff, Michael, Morozov, Igor, Li, Yuhao, Yang, Jianmei, García-Sastre, Adolfo, Richt, Juergen A., Ma, Wenjun
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 631/326; 631/326/590/1867; Agricultural industry; Avian flu; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Chickens; Immunization; Immunoglobulins; Infectious Diseases; Influenza; Medical Microbiology; Newcastle disease; Outbreaks; Poultry; Public Health; Spraying; Vaccine; Vaccines; Virology; Viruses
• ISSN: 2059-0105; 2059-0105
• DOI: 10.1038/s41541-017-0034-4

Since December 2014, Eurasian-origin, highly pathogenic avian influenza H5 viruses including H5N1, H5N2, and H5N8 subtypes (called H5N x viruses), which belong to the H5 clade 2.3.4.4, have been detected in U.S. wild birds. Subsequently, highly pathogenic H5N2 and H5N8 viruses have caused outbreaks in U.S. domestic poultry. Vaccination is one of the most effective ways to control influenza outbreaks and protect animal and public health. Newcastle disease virus (NDV)-based influenza vaccines have been demonstrated to be efficacious and safe in poultry. Herein, we developed an NDV-based H5 vaccine (NDV-H5) that expresses a codon-optimized ectodomain of the hemagglutinin from the A/chicken/Iowa/04-20/2015 (H5N2) virus and evaluated its efficacy in chickens. Results showed that both live and inactivated NDV-H5 vaccines induced hemagglutinin inhibition antibody titers against the H5N2 virus in immunized chickens after prime and booster, and both NDV-H5 vaccines completely protected chickens from lethal challenge with the highly pathogenic H5N2 A/turkey/Minnesota/9845-4/2015 virus. No clinical signs and only minimal virus shedding was observed in both vaccinated groups. In contrast, all mock-vaccinated, H5N2-infected chickens shed virus and died within 5 days post challenge. Furthermore, one dose of the live NDV-H5 vaccine also provided protection of 90% chickens immunized by coarse spraying; after exposure to H5N2 challenge, sera from vaccinated surviving chickens neutralized both highly pathogenic H5N1 and H5N8 viruses. Taken together, our results suggest that the NDV-based H5 vaccine is able to protect chickens against intercontinental highly pathogenic H5N x viruses and can be used by mass application to protect the poultry industry. Animal health: Protecting chickens from avian influenza Vaccines based on Newcastle disease virus have proved efficacious in protecting chickens from H5 avian influenza strains. Avian influenza causes significant losses to the agriculture industry, indicating the importance of research into their control. A research collaboration of US and Chinese scientists, led by Kansas State University’s Wenjun Ma, have now produced vaccines based on Newcastle disease virus (NDV) — a platform easily modified to express immunity-stimulating proteins from other pathogens. Chickens vaccinated with the group’s vaccines survived a lethal dose of avian flu strain H5N2 and generated neutralizing antibodies cross-protective against other avian flu s